Running From it All
by sandersonsister
Summary: Althea left Fairy Tail. She didn't think she had a choice. The only person she can count on is her best friend. After years, years in which her best friend disappeared, her old friends, brother, and ex find out the real reason she left. A baby boy.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This chapter is set before Tenrou Island. Story is cannon until after the games - then it's AU. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and make no compensation off of this story.

Althea couldn't believe she had been such a fool. She had known he liked to flirt. In the back of her mind, she knew it didn't always stop at flirting. But she had looked away, ignored it. Thought she was different. She was the one he called his girlfriend. She had had that title for the last three years. Well, almost. Their three year anniversary was supposed to be next week.

Guess that wasn't going to happen now.

How could she let this happen? She was an S-Class mage, a member of Fairy Tail. Granddaughter of Makarov. Sister of Laxus – not that he would claim her. He never did.

She supposed it was a good thing now. She wouldn't want to claim her either.

"Althea? You alright?" Her best friends voice broke through her depression, making her turn to face him with bright red eyes. "Ali? What's going on?"

Hesitantly, she handed him the parchment she had received from Porlyusica this morning. Althea had asked her to write it down, like actually seeing it would make her believe it.

She watched as Gray's jaw tightened and he closed his eyes. Her heart dropped. He was it, the last person she could count on. If he turned her away –

"Did you tell-"

"I went there," Althea cut in, the thought instantly making her eyes burn with tears and her throat burn. "He – apparently, he's been dating that celestial mage for the last three months. I couldn't tell him."

Gray stood abruptly, shaking his head as he began pacing back and forth. "You didn't even tell me you two had broken up."

That was it. She couldn't stop it this time. The tears began to fall down Althea's face, her hands coming up to brush them away quickly. She didn't cry. She never cried. She wasn't going to cry over him. "We didn't."

Gray froze, his hands clenching and crumpling the parchment. "So he's been cheating on you. And you're-"

"Yep."

Gray walked back over, slowing sinking down in the chair next to hers. "What are we going to do?"

Althea's head snapped up, staring at the boy beside her. "We?"

Gray rose an eyebrow, shooting her a look that showed just had dumb he thought the question was. "Yeah, we. Have you talked to gramps yet?"

Althea shook her head frantically. "I can't tell him. He'll be so disappointed. I can't do it."

Gray rolled his eyes, "Ali, I think he's going to notice sooner or later."

Althea hesitated, not sure how he was going to take the next sentence. Letting out a deep breath, she spoke quickly, "Uh, not if I'm not here." At the look on Gray's face, she continued to talk, hoping he would at least think about what she was saying before arguing with her, "I can tell gramps that I want to take some time off. Maybe tell him I want to try my hand at something else for awhile. I can do it. I have to do it."

"And what's going to happen when you come back with a baby?" Gray demanded.

The look on Althea's face made realization hit. "You don't plan on coming back, do you?"

Althea slowly shook her head, watching her best friends face close off completely. "Gray?"

He just shook his head, standing once again. "I know why you want to do it – but Ali, we are your family. We can help you. I can't let you go through this alone."

Althea stood, walking close to Gray. "I know you won't. But I can't, wont, do it here. I can't disappoint them."

Gray studied her, eyes staring into her own, before finally nodding.

Althea had known it wouldn't be easy to convince her grandfather, but she had finally done so. Now, here she was, standing in an empty apartment in Crocus. There was little chance of a Fairy Tail member finding her here. There was only one person that knew where she was, and she knew he wouldn't say anything unless he had to.

She had so much to do. She had to furnish the apartment, find a healer, and get things prepared. Luckily, she had enough jewels saved that she wouldn't have to worry for awhile.

Gray would be coming within the next few weeks. He had managed to take a job close enough to swing by and help her find a place, but he had to get back before someone thought something was wrong. He was planning to come and help her set up the baby's room – which meant she actually needed things to go in the room before he got here.

At the thought of the baby, Althea pressed her hand against her still flat stomach. It wouldn't stay that way long. By her calculations, she was about three months along. Six months to go and she would have a child. A child that was all hers. A child that would always remind her of him.

Her eyes burned, but she shook her head and set about unpacking the few things she had for the kitchen. She and Gray had gone shopping to buy the necessities – she could get everything else here.

She couldn't regret it. She had only found out about the baby three weeks ago, but she already cared for it. Even with the way things had turned out, at least something good had come of it.

* * *

"I think that's it," Gray said four months later, looking around at the completed room.

Althea nodded, sinking down into the rocking chair with her hands on her stomach. The baby kicked in response, always more active when Gray was around. "Your godchild is saying hi," Althea informed him, leaning back.

Gray smiled brightly, sinking down to his knees and placing his hand beside hers. "That's because he loves me."

Althea rolled her eyes, "So sure it's a boy?"

"Of course," Gray scoffed, smirking up at his best friend as she rolled her eyes. He pulled his hand off of her stomach and grabbed her hand, helping her stand to move into the front room. "I probably won't be able to come back until it's time for the peanut to be born," Gray informed her as they sat on the couch.

Althea nodded, knowing he had been coming around so often people had been asking him if he had a secret girlfriend. "You can stay for awhile, right?"

Gray winced and shrugged, "I'll try. Take an easy job and get here as soon as I can, help you out for awhile before I have to go back."

Althea closed her eyes. Two months. Two months and she would have a son or daughter. She imaged what they would look like. Would they have her light blonde hair? Or their fathers slightly darker blonde? Her grey eyes, or their fathers dark ones? What about magic? Would they even want to be a wizard? Would they want to train with her, learn her wind magic? Or would they have better luck with a form of mind magic? Maybe they would want to learn ice make from Gray. Maybe they wouldn't want to learn any of it and would do something completely different with their life.

She couldn't wait to find out. Couldn't wait to see them.

But she was terrified. What if she couldn't do it on her own? Sure, Gray would come when he could, but she knew it would only be for a few days every few months. Would they be at a disadvantage without having a father? What if she did something wrong? What if her father found out and came after them?

There were so many things that could go wrong. So very many. She had been on jobs that would leave others in a corner crying, had been held by a man trying to drain wizards of all of their magic for a month. Had almost died so many times she couldn't even count them – but the thought of doing something to raise her child incorrectly? That terrified her.

"You alright?" Gray questioned.

Althea looked at him, surprised. She had forgotten he was there. "Yeah, just thinking. What do you think they'll look like?"

Gray shrugged, sinking back against the couch. "Like you? I don't know."

Althea chuckled. She should have known better than ask Gray. "How's everything at the guild?"

"Fine, I guess. There's a new guy, Loke. Seems cool enough. Might see if he wants to team up."

Althea tried to smile, really, she did. But she had always been Gray's partner. But that time was over. Gray needed a new partner. "Sounds good – but how can you come here if you two are working together?"

Gray didn't look concerned. "We'll figure something out. He's a cool guy. I think you'd like him."

Althea just rose an eyebrow, "And everyone else?"

"Fine. Your brother is a jerk. Natsu's an idiot. One day he's going to realize Lisanna is completely in love with him. Mira is Mira. Erza is Erza. Nothing much has changed."

Althea didn't know how to respond to that. It seemed they didn't really miss her. Not that she had expected them to – the only person she really talked to was Gray. "How's gramps?"

"Same. Asks me if I've heard from you. I don't like lying to him," Gray muttered, shooting Althea a small glare. Althea sent him an apologetic smile.

"I'll tell him, I promise. I just – I don't want to disappoint him."

"Ali, gramps will be more upset that you kept it from him than anything. You know that."

"I'll tell him," at Gray's disbelieving look, Althea crossed her arms over her chest. "I will!"

* * *

Gray showed up two months later with a red haired guy in tow. Althea took one look at the young man and knew who he was instantly – she had dealt with Karen more than once. And it was obvious he knew who she was by the way he froze in the doorway.

And she knew Gray had no idea.

"This is Loke," Gray said, motioning to the young man as he hurried over to Althea, placing his hand on her bulging stomach. "You're huge!"

Althea tore her gaze away from the startled celestial spirit, glaring at her best friend. "Shut it. My back is killing me, my feet hurt, and I can barely move."

Gray let out a chuckle as Loke let out a small smirk. "I'll get you a drink," Gray said, moving into the kitchen.

Althea turned her attention to the other man instantly. "You might as well come in – and explain what is going on."

Loke winced before closing the door, making his way over to the empty chair beside her. "Well, it's a long story."

Althea looked over her shoulder pointedly, "Make it short."

"I forced my gate open to teach Karen a lesson. Karen ended up getting killed on a job because she couldn't open two gates at once. As punishment, I've been forced out of the spirit world. Joined Fairy Tail."

Althea nodded slowly, her mind catching two different pieced of information. First, Karen was dead. She tried to feel remorse at the thought, but nothing happened. She had never the celestial wizard, had absolutely hated the way she treated her spirits, but the woman had also broken up her relationship. Not that it was just her fault. No, but Althea couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for the now deceased wizard.

Leo, on the other hand, had her full sympathy. She had wondered more than once why the King of the Zodiacs hadn't stood up to the woman. She was glad he finally did, but felt sorry that such a thing had cost the life of his contracted. And that he was forced to live in the human world. Wait…

"How long?" She asked, narrowing her eyes as she noticed the celestial spirits pale complexion.

Leo the Lion shrugged. "No idea. I'm trying to last as long as I can."

Althea slowly nodded, trying to process all the information. Leo – Loke- looked down at her stomach hesitantly, "So, uh, is Hibiki-"

"There's something I need to tell you," Gray said, handing her a glass of juice as he sat beside her on the sofa. Althea turned to face him, ignoring the question Loki was obviously getting ready to ask. She felt herself grow cold at the tense look on her friends face.

"Gray?"

Gray hesitated, eyes flickering to Loke before turning back to her. "Uh, the last time I was here, Mira took Elfman and Lisanna on a job. An S-Class job."

Althea tensed, the cold feeling growing stronger. Something happened. Something bad. "Who?"

Gray started at her, obviously wondering if he should continue. "Lisanna."

Althea felt tears fall as she thought of the younger girl. They had never been close – Lisanna always hung around Natsu while Althea was with Gray – but Althea had always liked the other girl. "How?"

"Elfman lost control," Gray said quietly, making Althea let out a sob as she buried her head in her hands. She felt her body shake in pain. Elfman – he had to be a complete mess. He had always felt bad that he wasn't as strong as his sisters. To know that he was the cause of his younger sisters death…

"Mira cant use magic," Gray continued, knowing it was better to get it over with. "Gramps thinks it's the trauma."

Althea shook with sobs at the thought of her Fairy Tail family going through all of that without her. She should have been there, should have helped them. Althea clenched her fists as the pain she had felt all morning grew more intense. It must have been a sign. Telling her something was wrong.

Either that or-

"Gray?"

"Yeah?"

"My water just broke."

Twelve hours later saw Althea resting in bed, a small baby boy resting in her arms. "Told you it'd be a boy," Gray told her, perched on the edge of the bed. He stared down at the small baby, a smile on his face.

"Now really isn't the time to say I told you so," Althea told him softly, not able to take her eyes off of the baby. Her baby.

"He looks like you," Loke commented from where he stood behind Gray.

Althea shot a tired smile at the celestial mage. "As much as a baby can, I guess."

He chuckled as Gray moved his arms forward to take Damian from her. "Get some rest. We'll be here in case anything happens."

Althea nodded tentatively, not taking her eyes off of her son as Gray moved him toward the crib by the bed. She didn't close her eyes until he was resting comfortably.

* * *

Gray and Like had been a great help to Althea the two weeks they stayed, but now they were gone and Althea was alone with her son for the first time.

And it was not going well.

He wouldn't stop crying. Why was he always crying?

Althea felt like crying as she moved around the apartment with Damian in her arms. "Please go to sleep. Please. I know Gray's gone, I know. It's alright, he'll be back as soon as he can. I promise. Please stop crying…"

How was she going to do this? She needed help. She shouldn't have moved out of Magnolia. She should have met some friends when she moved. She shouldn't have thought she could do this all on her own.

"Please, Damian, please…"

* * *

"Where is my godson?" Gray demanded three months later, moving past Althea when she opened the door.

"Nice to see you, too!" Althea called as he moved into her bedroom.

"Althea," Loke greeted, smiling at the girl as he moved into the apartment. "Heard you had a hard time after we left – everything okay now?"

Althea nodded, feeling a blush spread across her face. "I was a little overwhelmed at first. But everything is fine now. I wouldn't change it for the world."

Loke nodded, smiling as Gray walked out of the room, Damian in his arms. "This little guy seems happy to see us."

Althea smiled at her son, "He's happy to see everyone."

Gray rolled his eyes. "No, he knows his godfather is here. And Uncle Loke."

Loke blinked, startled at the reference, but Althea just laughed. She moved to the sofa, grabbing Damian's favorite stuffy and placing it in Gray's hands. "He loves it," she informed him, noticing Loke's eyes widen as they landed on the stuffed lion. She didn't miss the appreciative glance Loke threw her.

"How are Mira and Elfman?" Althea asked as they all sat, Gray continuing to play with Damian.

"Mira is working at the guild," Loke told her, wincing slightly. "Still doesn't use magic. And Elfman wont try a full shift – only does one arm."

Althea nodded understandingly. "How's Natsu? He and Lisanna were always so close."

"Natsu is as much of an idiot as always," Gray muttered, ignoring the disapproving look Althea shot him. "Anyway, we probably wont make it back here until your birthday."

Althea's eyes widened. "That's in five months!"

"The S-Class tournament is coming up," Loke said, sending her a small smile. "Gray's convinced it's his year."

Althea fought against rolling her eyes. Gray always thought it was his year. And he was wrong. He wasn't ready. "Ah, so I guess you two will be busy."

Loke sent her a small smirk as Gray nodded, "Of course. But I'll send some things for my amazing godson," he told her.

Althea shook her head. Gray had insisted on sending her some of the jewels he made on jobs, even though Althea had told him she still had some in savings. There was no doubt she's need to get a job within the next year or so, but that should give her time to find someone to watch Damian.

But Gray had stated that she needed to stay home with Damian, so he had been sending her jewels. Althea hadn't told him that she had been putting them aside for Damian when he got older. It could be used as a fund for Damian to do whatever he wanted when he got older.

"We'll make sure to be here for your birthday," Loke cut in, trying to stop an argument before it started. "A girl only turns seventeen once."

Althea laughed, taking Damian from Gray as he started to get fussy. "Alright, but you both have to contact me to let me know you're alright."

"Deal."

Those five months passed quicker than Althea thought possible. Damian was eight months old and crawling around the apartment. Althea had called Gray in excitement when it had happened – Gray had cursed for missing it. But he and Loke should be in the city any day and Althea had been telling her son all about his godfather and uncle.

The reaction had been much, much worse when she informed them Damian had called her mama. Gray had been ready to give up on his current job and head over, but Loke had reminded him about the trials. Gray had made Althea promise to keep a record of everything for him to look at when they next saw each other. Which was why there was now a full baby book / scrapbook sitting on Althea's table.

"Ali!" Gray's voice called, floating through her door as he knocked.

Althea ran toward the door, throwing it open and throwing her arms around the other boy. He hugged her back just as ferociously. This had been the longest they had been apart since they met at the guild years before. "Where's Damian?" He demanded, pulling back and looking around the apartment.

Althea motioned to the playpen in the room. Gray broke into a huge smile, running over to the playpen and lifting the small boy out. "Hello, Damian! I've missed you so much…"

Althea turned her attention to the other man in her doorway, letting herself be wrapped into two strong arms. "Althea, great to see you again."

"Loke," Althea laughed, hugging him back. "Heard you now have… three girlfriends?"

Loke shrugged, pushing his tinted glasses up. "I wouldn't call them girlfriends."

Althea rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say."

Loke ignored her, moving over to Gray and Damian. Damian stared at the newcomer with a frown on his face before reaching up to touch the glasses on Loke's face.

Althea smiled fondly at the three. She was so glad they were back here – she had missed Gray like crazy for the last five months and she had become good friends with Loke. As quietly as she could, she moved to grab a camera, snapping a picture of the three. Gray and Loke turned to her with raised eyebrows. She just smiled back. "Scrapbook."

After her birthday, Like and Gray had managed to stop by every couple of months, spending almost two weeks with them for Damian's first birthday. And, of course, they had spoiled him rotten. Althea had to rearrange her apartment to fit all the toys.

"New girl at the guild," Gray told Althea on his last visit. Loke hadn't come this time, Gray had said Loke had been tired lately and going on shorter jobs. Althea didn't like the sound of that and had made a mental note to call the celestial spirit as soon as possible.

"Really?"

"Natsu brought her. She's a celestial wizard."

Althea had frozen for a moment. A celestial wizard. No wonder Loke had been acting strange. He was probably panicking.

"She's teaming up with Natsu."

Good luck to the girl. Natsu could be… hard to handle.

Loke had shown up only a few weeks later, telling her how Gray had been pulled into a group with Erza, Natsu, and the celestial wizard, Lucy. Althea had known why Loke was there as soon as she saw him. He was pale, his magic weak. He was fading. He had come to say goodbye.

He stayed a week, spending every moment he could with Damian. Althea had spent the entire time taking pictures of the two of them, fighting back tears the entire time. She would always make sure Damian knew about his uncle Leo.

Before he left, Loke placed a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you." Then he was gone.

It was three months later that Gray appeared again, and it happened to be Damian's second birthday. "My big man!" Gray said, smothering the little boy with a hug. Damian just giggled.

Gray had an amazing story to tell. First he told her about the mission Loke had talked about, then he told her about Phantom Lord and Lucy. That brought him to Loke.

"You knew, didn't you?"

Althea nodded. Gray glared. "You knew he was dying and didn't say anything?!"

"It was his choice," Althea said, trying to defend herself.

She was happy to hear that Loke had been contracted to Lucy and allowed back in the spirit world. She felt the sadness in her heart let up to know that her friend had survived.

Gray continued to tell her about how they had been captured and about Erza's past. Althea couldn't say she was shocked by such events – Althea had known Erza had been through something horrible.

"Anyway, this is the first chance I've had to come see you two," Gray continued, setting Damian down and watching as he walked over to his toy chest. "He's so big."

Althea nodded, smiling down at her son as he grabbed his stuffed lion and made his way back to her. She picked him up, setting him on her lap. He curled up against her, hugging the lion to his chest.

"Fantasia is coming up," Gray told her mildly. "Might be time for you to come back to Magnolia."

Althea winced. "I don't – I'm not ready yet."

Gray scowled in irritation. "You said you would tell them. You've been gone two and a half years."

Althea ignored the comment, mentally shaking at the thought of returning to the guild. Here, in Crocus, no one knew her. But if she returned, the news that Althea Dreyer showed up with a two year old son would be everywhere.

And then he would find out.

Althea had fostered the guilt for years. It continued to grow stronger each day. She should have told Hibiki years ago. Even if he hadn't wanted to do anything about it, she should have told him about Damian. It wasn't right for her to keep it from him.

But the thought of coming clean now, after so many years, terrified her.

She couldn't do it.

The next time Gray appeared, it was with horrible news. Laxus, her brother Laxus, had tried to forcibly take over Fairy Tail. He had lost, barely from what Gray said, but had been kicked out of the guild.

Althea had cried that night. She and her brother had never been close, but he was her brother.

Laxus had blamed her for years. He thought it was her fault their dad had been kicked out of the guild. Althea had told him that it was their fathers fault – he had been the one to implant Laxus with the lacrima. But Laxus had told her the only reason he had done that was because of Althea. Because Althea had been powerful even as a child and he couldn't have one child be powerful and the other weak.

Laxus had blamed her and Althea had let him.

Gray didn't come back for months. When he did, it was only for him to tell her about Edolas. She knew there was something he was keeping from her. Something big. She demanded he tell her what it was. He refused.

"I'm going to get ready for the S-Class trials," Gray told her, not meeting her eyes that last day. "I'll be by after – hopefully this is my year."

Althea nodded, this time fully believing him. "Call me when the participants are announced."

Gray nodded, giving her a small smile before leaving.

She got the call a few months later. Gray had been chosen for the S-Class trials. And Loke had come down to help him out. "How's Damian?" Loke asked, pushing Gray out of the way.

Althea smiled brightly at her friend. She hadn't seen him in almost a year. "Great. Missing you. You have to come by when you two are finished. We can celebrate together."

Loke shot her a grin, "You got it."

It was only two weeks later that Althea had been walking home from the market with Damian when she heard the news.

The entire island had disappeared. Acnologia had attacked during the trials. Everyone on the island was presumed dead.

Althea barely made it to her apartment before breaking down, Damian cuddled beside her.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hope you guys like this - please let me know if you do! I'm really interested in this story, but I don't know if I'll keep writing it if no one else is.

The next seven years passed slowly. Althea felt the constant ache in her chest whenever she thought of her old friends. Gray had been right, she should have gone back. Damian should have been able to meet his family before…

She didn't know what happened to them. She had gone to Lamia Scale – no way she was going to Blue Pegasus – to find out if anyone knew anything. She couldn't go back to Fairy Tail. Not knowing that there was a possibility things could have been different if she had gone back. She couldn't face them.

Seemed to be a reoccurring condition in her life.

While at Lamia Scale, she had met Lyon. Gray had told her about his past years ago, had told her about his…newest meeting with his old friend. Althea had figured if anyone was searching for Fairy Tail, it would be him.

She was partially right. They were searching. But the head of the search was Blue Pegasus. Althea had refused to be a part of the search team. First, she couldn't go and see the nothingness where the sacred island was supposed to be. Second, she couldn't bring herself to see Hibiki again. Not now.

Lyon had become a good friend over the years. Althea had told him that Gray was Damian's godfather, and he seemed insistent that her son not miss out on the experience. He came to every birthday and stopped by every few months. She always heard him telling Damian stories about his lost godfather and the other members of Fairy Tail.

Althea did the same. For years, she told her son stories of the guild as bedtime stories. Talked about her friends, her grandfather, even her brother. She brought out whatever pictures she had of them and placed them around the apartment.

As he got older, Damian had asked for more and more information. He had grown to love the people he couldn't remember, most of whom he had never met. He had a picture of Gray, Loke, and Althea on his bedside table, Gray holding a year old Damian in his arms.

Together, they watched as Fairy Tail began to fall. She had considered returning at that point. She had thought that she might be able to make a difference. Damian had magic, powerful magic. He had stated more than once that when he was able, he was going to join her old guild, no matter their ranking. He wanted to carry on the family legacy.

Althea decided to wait. Once Damian turned ten, the two of them would return to Fairy Tail and she would meet whatever judgment they had for her. Lyon had tried to convince her to join Lamia Scale more than once. She had always refused. She wouldn't completely betray Fairy Tail.

It was six months before Damian's tenth birthday that she got the news. She had just gotten home from her current job (working at a bar – not glamorous, but it paid bills) when her lacrima went off. She wasn't surprised to see Lyon. She was surprised at the news. "They found them. Blue Pegasus found the island. Its back."

Thoughts flooded her mind instantly. It had been seven years. Even if the island had returned there was no guarantee that her friends were alive. At most, they might find their bodies. They would be able to give them proper burials. She could-

"They're alive, Althea."

Her entire body froze as she looked into Lyons astonished face. "Alive? How?" She finally sputtered.

"Apparently, they were lost in time for the last seven years. Not only are they alive, they haven't aged a day. We're on our way there now." He hesitated for a moment before meeting her eyes. "You should come with us."

Slowly, Althea shook her head. Lost in time for seven years. Hadn't aged a day. "So much has changed in the last seven years…they are going to have such a shock with everything. I can't add to that. Not now."

Lyon nodded once, "Yes, I thought you would say something close to that. I will talk to Gray, inform him that the two of you are alright. I'm sure he has been wondering."

Althea couldn't even nod before the connection was cut off. They were back. Alive. Nothing had changed for them. Hell, Gray, her best friend, was only eighteen years old.

"Damian?" She called, needing to talk to him before he heard it when he was out. "Come in here!"

Her son came out of his room, eyebrows quirked at her serious tone. As always, her heart clenched when she saw him. He was the spitting image of her former lover. The only part that was hers was his eyes. And when she saw them, she thought of her brother, the brother she had thought to never see again.

"Lyon just called," she started, not knowing how to say this.

He crossed his arms over his chest, "And? Uncle Lyon calls all the time."

"He called to say… that they found the island."

His arms fell to his side and a frown came on his face. He was definitely smarter than she had been at his age. "And?"

"They found them. Alive. Apparently, they were somehow…stuck in time."

Althea watched as her son sunk down on the sofa, his eyes wide as they stared at her. "Alive? Are we going to see them? Is Uncle Gray going to come here? I want to meet him! Him and Uncle Loke! And Uncle Laxus, and great-grand gramps, and-"

"Lyon is going to see them now," Althea cut in, her heart aching when she thought of what he would say at her next words. "But – I don't think we should go right now."

His face fell instantly, "Why not?"

"They have so much else that's going to get thrown at them – the fact that they lost the guild hall, the magic games, the fact that they are now in last place instead of first, that so many people abandoned the guild… I think we need to wait for a while before we go see them."

Damian's hand flew up to his hair to twirl a strand around his fingers, a habit he had developed when he was thinking intently or feeling insecure. "But…when can we go?"

Althea swallowed hard, "I was thinking that we stick with the plan we had before. We'll leave for Magnolia on your birthday."

Damian obviously wasn't happy with the plan. Who could blame him? But she had made up her mind. She couldn't just show up and say "hey, I know you're dealing with a lot now, but meet my son!". No, she had to wait.

And it gave her some time to prepare. To brace herself for what was to come.

"Alright," Damian finally said, his eyes narrowing, "But you have to help me get stronger! I want to show them when I meet them! Please, mom?"

With a small smile, Althea agreed. Her son was already powerful. How could he not be? He was a Dryer, after all.

She had heard from Gray the next day and had cried when his face appeared on the screen. He had tried to comfort her, but she wouldn't have it. She had demanded to know what had happened and had received the most…interesting story.

The first master had saved them. A ghost had saved them.

She shouldn't be surprised. They were Fairy Tail, after all.

He had wanted to see Damian and had gaped in shock as she called her son. "Kid! Wow, you got big! For me, it's only been a couple of months!"

Damian shot his godfather a beaming smile, "Hi! Mom talks about you all the time, and Uncle Lyon. I want to meet you – when can you come visit? I want to show you my magic, mom's been helping me. She says we can go to Fairy Tail when I turn ten and we can-"

"Damian," Althea laughed, placing her arm around her sons shoulders and hugging him close to her. Gray was also laughing, though his eyes were bright as they stared at the boy.

"I've missed so much," he muttered, his face forming into a frown for a moment before it disappeared behind a smile. "I'll come see you two as soon as I can. Things are hectic here at the moment – no one really knows what's going on. And I can't wait to see your magic."

Damian's face was radiant. "Great! It will be so much fun…can Uncle Loke come too?"

Gray laughed, "I haven't seen Loke yet – he had gone back to the spirit world before we got stuck, but he couldn't leave because Lucy was with us. I'm expecting him to come down soon, though. I'll talk to him when he does."

Althea didn't think she had ever seen her son that happy.

Of course, she should have expected it. Fairy Tail had fallen into some trouble once again and it pushed back Gray's trip. Damian was disappointed, but made Gray promise to tell him all about it once he finally made it to them. Gray had promised he would, but Althea could tell he was just as upset as they were.

And then, it got pushed back again. The group had found out about the Magic Games and wanted to enter. Of course they did.

"Problem is, we're seven years behind everyone else," Gray told them, his expression conveying just how sorry he was, "we only have three months to train."

Damian had put on a brave face, telling his godfather to train really hard so they could win and show everyone how great Fairy Tail really was. He said that Gray would be in the city for the games anyway, so they would get to see each other them.

As soon as the connection ended, he turned and begged Althea to go to the games this year. She had never allowed it in the past. For two main reasons – one, a lot of the wizards would recognize her if they saw her. Two, Hibiki was always there.

Damian had known her reasons and had never protested staying home before. He knew about his father, Althea had told him stories about him, just as she had about Gray and the others, and he knew why she had left without telling him. She had always left it up to Damian if he wanted to contact his father or not. If he came to her and said he wanted to, she would have let him without any complaints. But, so far anyway, he had never seemed interested.

"Fine, we can go."

They didn't hear from Gray for three months. Though neither of them admitted it, they were worried. Even if he had been busy training, they didn't think Gray wouldn't contact them – he had seemed just as desperate to talk to them after he returned than they had been to talk to him.

When he finally did contact them, it was to tell them, in agitation, that the celestial spirits had thrown them a welcome back party – and they had been there for three months. "It only seemed like a few hours to us!" Gray had complained, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "We really have to stop losing time."

He told them that the team would be leaving for Crocus the next day, and he would see them once he arrived.

And he did so. Apparently, the team (Gray was on the team! And Laxus wasn't…Althea knew that her grandfather had some sort of plan…) had to be in their rooms by midnight, but they had decided to go their separate ways until then.

Althea had thrown herself into his arms the second he walked in the door. "I missed you so much!" She whispered, closing her eyes tightly to fight back the tears that threatened to fall.

Gray wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her just as tightly. "I know. It's alright…" he pulled away, his lips twitching as he looked her over. "Ali… you got old."

Althea pulled away fully, her eyes narrowing dangerously on her friend. "I'm not old! I'm twenty-five!"

"Old," Gray teased, his attention snapping to Damian as he walked into the room.

The two stared at each other for a moment, neither knowing what to do or say. Althea shifted uncomfortably, wondering if she should do something, when Gray slowly opened his arms.

Damian didn't waste a second, running forward and wrapping his own arms around his godfather. Gray held him just as tightly, chuckling as he did so. "Jeez, you really did get big."

Damian laughed, pulling away and staring at Gray with stars in his eyes. "Mom said we can go watch the games! We never did before!"

Gray shot Althea a questioning gaze. A gaze she avoided. He turned back to Damian, a smile on his face, "Well, I guess that means we just have to try even harder, don't we?"

Damian laughed, nodding his head frantically as he did so. "Yeah! Show Sabertooth that Fairy Tail is the best!"

Althea winced at the other guilds name. Sabertooth was strong, no doubt about that, and they didn't fight fair most of the time. She had no doubts that Fairy Tail could win, but it wasn't going to be a pretty fight.

Though, she was looking forward to Natsu against one of the other dragon slayers. That could be a good show.

The four of them spent the day together, Gray leaving shortly before midnight. "Need to get to the hotel. Have a feeling something is going to happen and the rules say we have to be there before midnight."

Althea and Damian both hugged him once again, promising to be there to cheer them on the next day. It was half an hour later the maze appeared in the sky. "Think they'll do it?" Damian asked her, yawning widely.

She nodded, looking at her son fondly, "You need to go to bed. This was a onetime thing because Gray was here. Don't get used to it."

Damian groaned, slumping down in his chair. "But I want to know if they qualify!"

Althea shook her head, looking at the maze ruefully. "I honestly doubt we'll find out tonight. They always like to build the suspense."

Damian hesitated for only a moment before nodding. "Alright, fine. But if you're wrong, I'm going to be upset!"

Althea just laughed as he made his way into his room.

She wasn't wrong.

Althea sat in the stands, surrounded by people, her hood pulled up. Damian was bouncing up and down in his seat, obviously excited, as the announcers started to announce the teams. "In eighth place…Fairy Tail!"

Althea let out a sigh of relief as Damian laughed, hugging her tightly. Eighth place. Not the best, but at least they placed.

Her eyes drank in the sight of her former guild mates, traveling from Gray, to Natsu, to Elfman, and Erza. There was a blonde there, must be Lucy. Gray had talked about her enough, Althea could have picked her out of a hundred people.

She winced in sympathy as the crowd began to boo, the only cheering coming from what was obviously the Fairy Tail section. Althea's head snapped toward the sound, certain she could hear her grandfather over everyone else. She felt tears prick her eyes and had to fight back a sob. Only two more months until Damian's birthday.

She shook her head as the Fairy Tail team looked at each other in confusion. They weren't used to the disdain Fairy Tail had become treated with. Hopefully, by the end of the games, they wouldn't be any longer. Not with Erza, Gray, and Natsu on the field.

She watched, not surprised as Quatro Cerberus and Mermaid Heel came onto the field next. Both were good guilds, though she doubted they would end up in first place. Though, she had heard a few things about one of the members of Mermaid Heel… maybe she should watch them closely.

When the next team was announced, Althea hunched her shoulders and huddled further into the cloak. She saw Damian standing up, looking at the members closely. She knew the moment his eyes found their mark – his entire body stiffened and his head tilted to the side.

Althea took a deep breath and looked down at Blue Pegasus. She recognized Ichiya and Ren instantly, the smaller blonde being a little familiar, and the rabbit was just… odd. Then she saw Hibiki.

He looked the same as always, his hair a bit longer and his suit jacket missing. He looked at ease on the field, a smirk on his lips as the girls in the stands began to cheer. Althea felt her heart begin to ache at the sight. After almost ten years, she was still in love with him.

Apparently, so was every other girl in the kingdom.

Damian sat back down, his head tilting to rest on her shoulder. Althea tore her gaze off of Hibiki and looked at him with a fond smile before wrapping her arm around him and hugging him to her.

Next on the field was Lamia Scale. She cheered as Damian jumped to his feet, clapping widely. The smile fell off of her face once the next name was announced.

Raven Tail. She grabbed Damian instantly, pulling him down beside her and ducking her head. If they were here, her father was here. If her father was here, and he spotted Damian, things could get very bad, very quickly. "Mom?" Damian asked quietly, looking at her in concern.

Althea's eyes flickered throughout the stands. As long as he wasn't around her today, they could stay. The rest of the time, she would have Damian bring a cloak. As long as her father didn't get a close look at him, he wouldn't know who he was.

"Fairy Tail's B Team!"

Her eyes flew to the field in shock, Damian jumping to his feet once again. His mouth was hanging open as he looked over the team, eyes wide. "Mom… mom! Isn't that Uncle Laxus?" he hissed.

Althea nodded, her eyes following her older brothers every move. Was he still considered her older brother? After all, she was now a year older than him. Technically.

The others – Mirajane. That was the only one she knew… they guy in the cloak was supposed to be Mystogan, but she knew, thanks to Gray, that it couldn't be him. He had gone back to Edolas. The guy with piercings had to be Gajeel – Gray had mentioned him a few times.

And the woman…

Althea bit back a laugh as she saw the woman bat her eyes at Gray. Ah. This had to be Juvia. The water woman. From what she had heard, the girl was powerful…if a bit of a stalker. She should be a big help.

As long as she wasn't up against Gray.

That might not work out well.

"Sabertooth!"

The crowd went wild. Neither Althea nor Damian moved, both frowning as the famous team walked onto the field.

It was when they were all on the field that the rules were explained and the first game was announced. She wasn't surprised in the slightest when Gray joined in – she knew he would want to prove Fairy Tail was more than people thought.

She also wasn't surprised when Lyon entered right after Gray did. Apparently, seven years didn't fade a rivalry.

The game, hidden, began and she watched in horror as the member of Ravens Tail attacked Gray again and again. Halfway through, Damian buried his face in her shoulder, shaking his head as he watched his godfather get thrown about.

Even – the other blonde from Pegasus – surprised Althea. He was powerful. And smart. Using the cold the way he did, to find his opponents was impressive.

Too bad neither Gray nor Lyon were affected by the cold. She wasn't surprised when Lyon managed to take him out.

And then there was the mage from Sabertooth. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she watched him attack everyone. His magic was…different than the others.

After the game, she watched as Gray stormed past his friends, obviously needing to cool down. Damian sat beside her silently. "Ravens Tail targeted him," Althea said to her son softly. "There was nothing he could do."

"I know," Damian replied, just as quiet, "but he must be upset."

Althea gave a small smile. If she knew Gray at all, upset didn't begin to cover it.

The two went home that night subdued. Not only had the game been a disaster, the first duel, between Lucy and a member of Ravens Tail, was horrible. And odd.

Althea knew that spell should have worked. There was no way Lucy should have lost. And yet…she did. Something was going on and her father's guild was at the center of it. And she was going to find out what it was.

And the battle between Mystogan and Jura. She had felt the power coming off of the suppose Mystogan. A familiar power. She knew who was in that disguise. And she knew that someone had taken it upon themselves to make sure he didn't reveal himself during that battle. She had met Jellal on more than one occasion, at the time, he was known as Seigrain. According to Gray, Seigrain and Jellal were one and the same. Jura was powerful, he was one of the wizard saints after all, but Jellal had been also. If she had to pick who she thought would have won the battle, it wouldn't have turned out the way it did.

The next day's game was a race. Natsu entered. Althea actually felt pretty good about their chances…until it was revealed they would be running on moving chariots. Althea groaned loudly, Damian looking at her from under his hood. "What's wrong? You said Natsu was fast!"

"He is," Althea muttered, "on the ground. He has horrible motion sickness."

Damian's shoulders slumped at this information. The two of them watched as members from other guilds fought it out…and both Fairy Tail teams, and surprisingly Sabertooth's dragon slayer, could barely move. "Must be a dragon slayer thing," Damian told Althea, a small, unhappy smile on his face.

Althea tried to smile back. "Well, maybe we won't be last…"

They weren't. The entire stadium chocked up as Natsu gave his speech to Sting. He pulled himself forward, barely making it past the finish line. Gajeel followed soon after.

And with this, the two scored the first points for Fairy Tail.

Damian and Althea cheered loudly, slowly followed by others in the stands. This was it, this was the moment everyone learned what Fairy Tail was really about.

The first match, Kurohebi vs Tobey, was interesting, if not predictable. Tobey lost to the other man, crying hysterically about his sock. "That was mean," Damian scowled.

The second match was Bacchus vs Elfman. Althea clasped her hands together, biting her lip as they started. Bacchas was very powerful. Elfman was… well, she just prayed that he would get out of this in once piece.

She, like everyone else, watched in shock as the battle progressed. Elfman had come a long way. A very long way. She winces as the match ended – they might have won, but she didn't think Elfman would be participating again.

The next battle…surprised them all. Mirajane vs Jenny of Blue Pegasus. A swimsuit contest. Althea shifted uncomfortably, placing her hand over Damian's eyes. "Mom!" He grumbled, trying to pull her hand off of his face.

"Nope."

The match began to get out of hand, more and more girls joining from other guilds and the announcers naming more and more costumes for them to model. Althea had to swallow hard and blink frantically when she saw Jenny in a wedding dress with Hibiki on her arm. Of course.

Damian, who had finally managed to pry her hand off, glared fiercely at the field, holding onto his mother's arm.

Finally, the match came to an end when Mira shifted into her battle form, knocking Jenny out with a single blow. Althea cheered wildly for the girl she had once thought of as a friend.

The last battle, Kagura vs Yukino, had Althea sitting up in interest. She had head that Kagura was good – and this proved it. She was impressive. Very impressive.

Gray stopped by the apartment after the games that night, ranting about his loss the day before. Damian assured his godfather that things were going to get better as Althea watched in amusement. Her son was right, she truly believed things would work out how they were meant to.

The third day of the games brought excitement from everyone. The game, Pandemonium, left the people in shock. Erza, who had been lucky enough to draw the first spot, chose to take on all 100 monsters. And won.

Althea had to laugh at the looks around the stadium. No one had expected this – well, no one but Fairy Tail. And those who knew the team from seven years ago.

When the Magic Power Finder was revealed, Althea bit back a grin. "Don't be disappointed," she muttered to Damian. "his power isn't the physical type."

Damian looked at her curiously, his expression turning into comprehension as Hibiki's score came up. "Oh, that's just pathetic," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

When Cana's turn came, Althea watched in shock as she revealed one of the ancient fairy spells. And won. She actually broke the counter.

This was Fairy Tail. This was the power they had in the guild.

The tournament went on, Milliana defeating Semmes and Eve losing to Rufus. Althea couldn't help but wince as Eve's body hit the ground. That one was going to hurt for a while.

The next match was Laxus vs Alexei of Raven Tail. Althea felt her eyes grow wide in horror as her brother was beaten in front of her, his body being thrown around the arena. She couldn't help but stand, shaking her head frantically. "NO! Laxus, what are you doing! Fight!"

The words erupted from her mouth, making various people turn to the area it came from with shock on their faces. She ducked instantly, hiding her face behind the hood. "Good job," Damian muttered sarcastically, peaking around the arena. "You got Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus looking over here. Gray is shaking his head at you."

Althea groaned, peaking out to see Lyon's eyes narrowed as he looked at the various faces in the stands. Hibiki was doing the same, shock written across his face.

They both turned to the arena instantly as the gasps sounded. The scene had somehow…changed. Suddenly, Laxus wasn't being beaten. No, he was standing there, the members of Raven Tail spread out around him.

Althea hissed in anger at the reveal. Her father. Her father had attacked Laxus with his guild.

She sat in her chair, shaking, as the next match took place. She knew it was Wendy, the girl who took Elfmans spot, against Chelia, the girl from Lamia Scale Lyon often spoke about. But she couldn't… her father had gone after Laxus.

"Mom? It's time to leave," Damian whispered, tugging on her hand and leading her out of the stands.

Her father…her brother. She needed to talk to her brother.

Day four of the games was horrible. Minerva, the girl from Sabertooth, almost killed Lucy. Would have killed her if Gray and Natsu hadn't been there to catch her.

And it was obvious that the members of Sabertooth didn't care.

The first tag team battle was Blue Pegasus vs Quatro Puppy. It was horrible. Just… Althea actually felt embarrassed for Blue Pegasus. The battle between Mermaid Heel and Lamia scale was interesting, but they were too closely matched, resulting in the timer running out and no winner being announced.

And then there was the last battle – Natsu and Gajeel vs Sting and Rogue. Althea knew it would be amazing to watch but she hadn't expected… Natsu had grown. His power was much stronger than it had been before.

And, just like that, she knew there was no way he would lose this match.

She was proved right –though, in true Fairy Tail fashion, the entire arena was destroyed in doing so. Damian was in awe, wanting to meet Natsu as soon as possible. Althea decided she would try to put off that meeting for as long as possible.

After that, Althea wasn't sure what had happened. The next day was the team battle, but Natsu didn't participate. Something that she knew would never happen unless there was something else going on that was more important.

And the only thing more important to Natsu than Fairy Tail was the _members_ of Fairy Tail.

But they won. Fairy Tail won the Grand Magic Games. Damian was cheering, hanging off of Althea with sparkling eyes.

But that night, everything went to hell.

Dragons. You had to be kidding. Once she got a hold of Natsu, she was going to kick his ass. She didn't know why, but dragons! It had to have something to do with Natsu.

She and Damian were fighting these… baby things, trying to get closer to a guild. It would be safer there.

Althea used her wind magic to send the things flying, some of them getting trapped under a wind dome. Damian used his own magic to confuse the baby dragon things, using the misdirection to attack them with a light beam.

"There are too many," Damian panted, standing back to back with his mom.

Althea swallowed hard, tensing as she heard yet another group coming toward them. "Be careful."

She just hoped they found help soon.

* * *

Gray was trying to get to Althea's apartment. He knew she could take care of herself, hell, she had been one of the strongest in the guild, but she wasn't just fighting for herself. He had no idea how powerful Damian was, or even what his magic was. He had to get there to help them.

* * *

Althea wasn't sure what happened. She had thought… she thought they had been down. That Damian – but they were both fine. The beam came toward Damian once again, and instead of right, like she had sworn he had done, he dove left, pushing Althea down with him.

They were both okay.

* * *

They did it. He wasn't sure how they did it, but they had. The guilds had all fought together, had succeeded. But he hadn't seen Althea or Damian.

"It's a celebration, my boy!" Makarov said, his word slurring as he lifted his glass. "Why do you look so upset?"

Gray hesitated, knowing Althea would be furious, but how could he not? "Gramps, there's something I gotta tell you…" he took a breath, "Althea lives in Crocus. I was trying to get to her apartment, but I couldn't… I went after, but the building was destroyed. I thought she would come here, but…"

Makarov stared at Gray silently, the words playing over in his head. Althea lived in Crocus. She had been there. And they didn't know if she…

"Where?" A harsh voice demanded. Gray turned, shrinking back when he saw the furious lightning dragon slayer behind him.

"I can show you," Gray muttered, looking toward the door once again. "I really thought she would have tried to make it here."

"Then we should go find her," Another voice cut in.

Oh, no. Althea was definitely going to kill him. If she wasn't…

"No," Gray protested, "not you."

"We'll just follow you," Eve cut in, raising an eyebrow as Gray glared at Hibiki. Ren nodded along with him, eyes narrowed.

"Gray!" Lyon moved forward, stepping up beside the Trimen and looking at them coldly. "Have you seen…"

"That's what we were just talking about," Gray said, knowing Lyon was trying not to give away Althea's name. "I went to the apartment, but it was destroyed. I thought she would have made her way here."

Lyon nodded, "As did I. I searched the area, but didn't find anything." He blinked, looking at Blue Pegasus once again, "you were talking to them? About Althea?"

"They heard me," Gray muttered, rolling his eyes at the disappointed look he was given.

"Wait, you knew where she was?" Laxus snarled, looking at the older ice wizard. "How do you even know my sister?"

"We met when Fairy Tail went missing," Lyon stated, looking bored, "she wanted information."

"So she went to you instead of us?" Hibiki demanded furiously. "We're the ones that led the investigation!"

Gray scoffed, "Wonder why she didn't want to do that?"

"Enough!" Makarov shouted, making others in the room turn to him in surprise. "Go find my granddaughter!"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Yay! Thanks for the reviews! I hope you guys like this part... let me know!

Damian didn't know what to do. He had been calling for help but no one was around. He couldn't leave – he was holding his jacket against his mom's stomach where the blood was pouring out. He wasn't even sure what had happened. They had been fine. The battle had been over, mom had said they needed to find the guilds. They had been walking toward the middle of the city when something had shot out, going clear through his mothers stomach. He remembered screaming. He saw her fall, shock on her face as she did so.

Damian had tried to see who it was, but the only thing he saw was a figure running away from them. He couldn't go after them, not when his mom was coughing up blood and holding her stomach. Damian had torn off his jacket, pressing it against his mothers stomach as tears fell down his face. "Mom – mom! Keep your eyes open. Don't-"

"I – I lo – love you," his mother had said, moving her hand to rest against his cheek. Damian could feel something wet on his face as her hand fell. Blood. He had his mothers blood on his face. On his hands. On his clothes.

"Help!" He had called. Over and over again. Nothing. No one had come.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, tears running down his face and his hands pressed tightly against the jacket when he heard something move. Footsteps. "Help!" He screamed once again, "Please! Help!"

"Damian?" A familiar voice questioned, the footsteps quickening.

Damian felt his heart jump in his chest. "Uncle Gray! Help! Mom-" He broke off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

Seconds later, a group came running around the corner. Damian blinked in shock at the sight. It was Gray, and Lyon, but there was also his Uncle Laxus and… his father. And his fathers friends. "What happened?" Gray yelled, falling to his knees beside Damian.

"We – we were trying to find the guilds," Damian said, voice shaking as his godfather held his hand over his moms mouth, checking to make sure she was still breathing. Oh, please let her still be breathing. "And someone – they shot something at her. She fell. I couldn't see who – mom…"

"We got to get her to the healers," Gray told the others, placing his arms under Althea's body and trying to lift her. Laxus snapped out of his shock, he had been staring at the boy who was calling his sister mom, and lifted his sister easily, letting Gray continue to press against the wound.

Lyon moved forward, wrapping his arms against Damian as the boy continued to cry. Damian pressed his face against his uncle. This couldn't be happening. His mom… she couldn't…

"We're going to help her," Lyon said, hugging the boy to him as Laxus and Gray began to move back to the guilds.

Damian just nodded, trying to wipe the tears off of his face as he backed away from Lyon. "Sorry – your clothes."

Lyon looked down at his white shirt and coat, both were now streaked with red. Althea's blood. Lyon merely stripped off the coat, handing it to Gray who immediately used it against the gaping wound. Damian's coat was too soaked to do much good.

Damian slowly looked behind him, seeing the shock on the faces of the Trimen. His father was staring at him, mouth hanging open. Ren and Eve didn't seem to know what to do. "Can you call someone? Get them to meet us?" Damian questioned, not wanting to ask the man anything, but… it was mom. And he knew what his father could do.

Hibiki seemed to snap out of his shock, opening his archive instantly and connecting to Wendy and Chelia. "Wendy, Chelia, can you hear me?" He asked, his eyes flickering to Damian every few seconds. "Good. We have a situation here, we need you two to come as soon as possible. I'm uploading a map to you now. We should meet you somewhere along the way. Please hurry and be careful."

He must have finished whatever he was doing, because his archive closed. Damian turned his eyes away, running after his uncle and godfather. Lyon moved after the boy instantly.

The Trimen didn't move, all three unsure of what to do. "We should go after them," Eve finally muttered.

Damian didn't bother to pay attention to his father or the other members of Blue Pegasus. He just followed Laxus and Gray closely, Lyon beside him. It wasn't long before the sound of running footsteps reached them. Damian looked up to see Wendy, Chelia, Natsu, Erza, Lucy, and Shelly running to them. Erza and Natsu stopped in shock at the sight in Laxus's arms. Wendy and Chelia crowded around the girl as Laxus gently laid her on the ground, taking a step back to watch the two of them carefully.

Lucy had stopped beside Natsu, knowing that this girl must have been Althea. She looked at the young woman, wincing at the gaping wound in her stomach. She turned her head slightly, surprised to see a sobbing boy beside Lyon. Who was that? She looked at Gray, hoping for some sort of answer, but he had refused to move from Althea's side and was watching the two young girls closely as they began to heal his friend.

There was a flash of light, then Lucy stared as Loke moved toward the boy. He knelt down and Lucy watched in shock as the boy threw himself into Loke's arms, sobbing hysterically.

Damian hugged Loke tightly, his body shaking. He had wanted to meet his uncle Loke, but not like this. Not when he couldn't stop crying. "Your mom is strong, Damian," Loke told the boy, his eyes flickering to the woman lying on the ground. "There's no way she'd let herself leave you alone."

Damian sobbed, nodding his head. Loke held him for a few more minutes before standing, letting Damian lean against his side. Lyon placed a hand on the boys shoulder and the three of them stood as they watched Chelia and Wendy work on Althea.

Finally, they both leaned back, exhaustion on their faces. "That's all we can do," Wendy told them, her eyes glancing around the group. "She needs to rest and see Porlyusica."

"Will she be okay?" Gray asked, his eyes flickering over to Damian.

"We were able to heal the worst," Chelia answered, leaning back against her cousin who seemed to be holding her up. "She needs rest and Porlyusica should be able to do more."

Laxus moved forward once again, picking up his sister and cradling her body against his chest. Damian followed closely as they made their way to a local hotel. The door was thrown open and various guild members turned toward the sound. There were gasps around the room. "Althea?!" Cana gasped in shock, falling off the bench she was sitting on.

The name traveled around the room, people straining to get a look at Althea Dryer, a girl that had once been known as one of the most powerful S Class mages around. And she had only been fourteen. "Get her to a bed," Porlyusica demanded, moving forward to assess the damage. "I suppose you two healed what you could?"

Chelia and Wendy both nodded as Laxus moved to the room he had been staying in, placing his sister on his bed. He stared down at her, taking in the changes to her appearance. She was older. Hell, she looked the same age as himself. A change considering he always had a different image of his little sister. He hadn't seen her since she was fourteen.

Porlyusica moved into the room, promptly kicking everyone out and saying she would inform them of her findings.

Damian was sitting beside Gray and Lyon, staring down at the table in front on him. "You should change," a voice said hesitantly. The three glanced up, seeing Eve staring at them. "I can find some clothes for you," he offered Damian quietly.

Damian nodded slowly, not sure why the youngest member of Trimen had come up to him. But he wasn't going to deny the offer- he was covered with his mom's blood. Gray cleared his throat, standing and motioning for Damian to follow him as Eve passed off some extra clothing. Lyon moved off to his own room, most likely to change himself.

Gray let Damian have the first shower, listening closely for signs he needed to enter the washroom. He knew the effect seeing a parent like that could have on a child. He wanted to be there if Damian needed him.

Damian scrubbed the blood off of his body, turning his skin an angry red. He had to get it off. All of it. Had to make sure he was clean. There couldn't be any of it left. Nothing to remind him. Nothing on him. None of it.

He was finally satisfied after half an hour, slowly pulling on the slightly too big clothing from the small Triman. They must have been older clothing – he didn't think the young man could wear them now. He made his way back into Gray's room, sinking down onto the closest bed as Gray quickly took his own shower and pulled on fresh clothes. He hesitated as he stepped into the room. "Do you want to stay up here? Maybe get some sleep…?"

Damian shook his head, standing from the bed. "No, I want to be down there in case…"

He trailed off but Gray nodded, knowing what his godson was saying. Together, they made their way back down the stairs and into the bar area. Many people had dispersed, but they saw the members of Fairy Tail, Lyon, the Trimen, Shelly, and Chelia sitting around a table.

Damian and Gray joined them. Damian shifted uncomfortably as every eye fell on him. "Uh, hi," he muttered, leaning against Gray.

"Hello, my boy," Makarov said gently, his eyes drinking in the boys familiar features. Yes, very familiar features indeed. "I am-"

"I know who you are," Damian said quickly, not wanting to go through this now. Not when his mother was in there. Not when he didn't know what was happening. He had planned to do this when his mom was beside him. He didn't want to do it without her. His hand flew up to his hair at the thought, his fingers twining through the strands. "Mom talked about you."

There were gasps around the table at the word. "So it's true. You're my sisters brat," Laxus said, eyes wide.

Damian glared at him as Gray snapped, "Leave him alone!"

Laxus held up his hands, "I didn't mean – how old are you, kid?"

"Nine," Damian muttered, a scowl on his face. "Ten in two months. Mom said when I turn ten we can go to Fairy Tail."

People looked at him in surprise. "So, you know about us? Obviously you know Gray. And Lyon," Mira said soflty, looking at the two questioningly.

"And Loke," Lucy muttered.

Gray let out a deep sigh, knowing they deserved answers – even Hibiki. And Althea wasn't available to give them answers.

She really was going to kill him.

"Althea found out she was pregnant and decided to leave Fairy Tail," Gray said, looking down at Damian slowly, not sure if she had told him that fact. Damian just nodded. His mom hadn't hidden anything from him. "She decided to move to Crocus."

"Why didn't she say anything?" Hibiki said, his eyes looking at the table and his hand tight around his glass. Many people began to shift uncomfortably, suddenly remembering Althea had had a relationship with the Blue Pegasus member.

"She was going to," Gray said hesitantly, once again not wanting to bring up the issue in front of Damian.

"She went to tell you, but found out you were cheating on her," Damian said bluntly, not looking at his father.

The group erupted, some shouting at Hibiki, some asking Damian more questions, others just staring in surprise. "Enough!" Makarov yelled. Everyone froze before slowly sinking back into their chairs, glares still plastered on their faces.

"Anyway," Gray continued, "she moved here and I-"

"Why didn't she tell us?" Laxus snapped, interrupting him once again.

"She didn't want great gramps to be disappointed." Damian answered once again, "and she didn't know what to say to the rest of you."

"But-"

"I came here every few months when I could get away after missions," Gray continued loudly, glaring at Lisanna as she started to say something. "When I began to team up with Loke, he went with me."

"She would have known Loke," Hibiki said to himself, though the others heard him.

"She did, though she didn't tell me," Gray said, rolling his eyes as Loke gave him an apologetic smile. "Anyway, we were there when little man was born."

Damian let out a growl at the nickname, but didn't look up from where his eyes were drilling into the table.

"Loke and I came to see them every time we could get away… until Tenrou," Gray muttered as people began to wince at the reminder. "After we got back, Lyon told me they were okay and I contacted them as soon as I could. Continued to call them until we came here for the games. First time I got to see them since we got back."

"When the news came out that Fairy Tail disappeared, Althea contacted me," Lyon said, knowing it was his turn, "wanted to know what was happening and if we had found anything out. She told me about Damian then." He smiled down at the boy, ruffling his hair, "he's Gray's godson, so I think she wanted me to know… always says Gray's my little brother."

Gray made a noise of protest, but Lyon just shot him a smirk and continued. "Basically, I did the same thing Gray did. Went to see them whenever I got away. Talked to Damian about Fairy Tail. I know she did too."

"Mom told me about everything," Damian finally said, his eyes flickering around the table. "About all of you. She put up pictures so I knew what everyone looked like. Told me I could contact you if I wanted too," the last sentence was directed at Hibiki, who swallowed at the information. Since he had never heard from his apparent son, he guessed the boy hadn't wanted anything to do with him. "Like I said, we were going to go to Fairy Tail when I turned ten. Then everyone came back and we decided to stay with that plan. Didn't want to make everything harder on you."

Mira let out a sigh, "That does sound like Althea." She shot the boy a small smile, "So, if you were going to join Fairy Tail, does that mean you use magic?"

Damian nodded slowly. "Mostly illusions and mind magic. I can use telepathy," he shot a look at his father, "but I'm not very good at it. Mom couldn't really help me practice with that."

Everyone's head snapped to the right as Polyusica walked into the room. "She will be fine. The girls did a good job healing the wound. She lost a lot of blood and needs her rest. She should be fine within a couple of weeks."

Damian collapsed back against Gray, feeling his eyes prickling with tears in relief. She was going to be okay.

"Now that we know she will be fine," Erza said, her voice hard, "We need to find out who it was that attacked her."

There were various nods around the room as people's eyes narrowed. "Is there anything you can remember about the person?" Erza demanded of Damian.

He glared up at the girl, "I just saw a black figure running away. That was it."

Erza's eyes narrowed at the glare, but Gray wrapped his arm around Damian. "Why don't we go upstairs? You should get some sleep."

Damian nodded, allowing himself to be led upstairs and into an open bed. He was out within minutes. Gray watched him, making sure his godson was truly asleep before slowly walking out of the room and closing the door softly behind him.

"We need that information-"

"Not today, you don't," Hibiki said back as Gray walked into the room. He was surprised to see the ladies man standing against Erza, his eyes narrowed. "Look at all he's gone through today – and Althea is lying in a bed after nearly being killed in front of him. Give him time to-"

"We don't have time if we want to find out-"

"Leave him alone," Hibiki hissed, turning on his heel and moving up the stairs. He glanced at Gray as he walked past and Gray noticed he hesitated for a moment before continuing.

Gray watched him go, letting the scene replay through his mind. It had looked like Hibiki was trying to stand up for his son.

Gray let out a deep sigh as he watched everyone around him. It was clear no one knew what to do with the information they had received that night – hell, getting that news on top of the dragon attack probably wasn't the best plan. It wasn't like he had had a choice.

Though he was still sure that once Althea was conscious, she was going to kill him.


	4. Chapter 4

Authors Note: Um, hi. So, apparently I've had part of this chapter saved on my computer for...the last year. I completely forgot about this story until I ran across it while I was going through my stuff. Then I reread it and completely fell in love with it again. So, if anyone care for me to continue it after all this time, please let me know. Also, let me know what you think of this chapter!

When Althea got her hands on Gray, she was going to kill him.

She had woken the day before, resting in a bed with her grandfather, brother, and son around her. Apparently no one else was allowed in until she could get up and around by herself. Which was fine, except Laxus had informed her that, while she was unconscious, they had all had some sort of meeting and Gray had informed not only all of Fairy Tail, but also the _Trimen_ about what had happened in her life since she left Fairy Tail.

Damian had told her that he hadn't really had a choice, that the Trimen had been there when Gray and the others had found her, but apparently that was also because Gray had been loud enough to be overheard by them in the first place.

Oh yes, her best friend was very, very dead.

"Mom?" Damian asked, opening the door softly and sticking his head in.

"Hey," Althea greeted, smiling at him brightly and struggling to sit up. He hurried over to her, shaking his head and pushing her back against the bed.

"Polyusica said you aren't supposed to get up yet!" Her son chastised.

Althea rolled her eyes, wondering how it was that her nine year old son suddenly expected her to do what he told her to do. "Polyusica is overly cautious. I'm fine." She made to move once more, ignoring Damian's protests, only to freeze as the door opened and a loud growl surrounded the room.

"Down. Now."

Althea fell back against the bed instantly, glaring up at the ceiling as her brother stalked over to the bed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm bored."

"Don't care," Laxus snapped, lightning beginning to crackle around him. "You had a hole blown through your stomach. Your son had to hold your intestines inside your body. You can stay in bed until you get cleared."

Althea clenched her jaw at the reminder of what she had put Damian through. Her gaze flickered over to her son to see him staring down at the floor, absently twisting his hair around his finger. Yeah, he was upset. "Damian, have you been having fun training with Gray and Lyon?"

Damian looked up instantly, nodding his head with a small smile on his face. "Ice make is fun. They make the weirdest things sometimes."

That didn't sound good.

"Not the best idea, asking those two to watch him," Laxus muttered, sprawling in the chair beside the bed, "they do more fighting than anything."

Althea sighed at the information, though she wasn't surprised. "Aren't you all heading back to Magnolia?"

Laxus rose an eyebrow, "Trying to get rid of us so quickly?"

Althea instantly felt guilty. "No! I mean, you guys have been here for so long I just didn't know if you-"

"Well, it really depends on you," Gramps said, walking into the room.

Althea stared at him as Damian shifted uneasily in the corner. "What?"

"Well, from what Gray and Lyon have told us, your apartment was destroyed in the battle. So, you will either have to find a new apartment for a few months and then move to Magnolia, or you can move with us now."

Althea closed her eyes. Right. The apartment. And Damian would be ten in two months. She guessed there really wasn't any reason to find somewhere else to stay for such a short period of time. "I guess you have a point."

"I'm going to go see Uncle Gray!" Damian said loudly, running out the door.

Althea stared after him, shaking her head as she let out a loud sigh. "I suppose everyone will know in about ten minutes."

Gramps chuckled, "It does seem to work that way. Many of the members have returned to Fairy Tail while some of them have decided to stay and wait for your recovery," he hesitated for a moment before perching on the edge of Althea's bed, taking her hand in his. "There are some people from other guilds who have decided to wait until they can see you before leaving also."

Althea groaned loudly, throwing her free arm over her eyes. Laxus huffed from beside her, "Had to know it was going to come sooner or later."

She glared at him, "I would have rather it been later." She sighed deeply, turning her attention back to Gramps. "Have they talked at all? I always told Damian he could contact him whenever he wanted but he never mentioned it to me. I was never sure if it was because he really didn't want to or if he didn't want to hurt me by asking."

"I have not seen them speak," Gramps said thoughtfully, "but Hibiki is always present when Damian is training with Gray and Lyon. He usually watches from the sidelines, though Damian ignores him. I believe Gray has been trying to get the two to interact, but Damian seems to be fighting him on it."

Althea sighed deeply and closed her eyes in exhaustion. "Get some sleep, child."

Damian ran out of the room and up to where Gray was sitting with Natsu, Lucy, and Loke. Erza had left, searching for the person that had attacked mom that night a few days ago. Natsu had wanted to go with her, but Erza had refused, saying she would have better luck on her own.

"Gray! Mom said we can go! We get to go to Magnolia!"

Gray laughed loudly, standing up and pulling Damian close to him in a hug. Damian squirmed around uncomfortably, finally breaking away from his godfather and taking a step back. These people sure liked to hug him.

"Are you sure you want to join Fairy Tail?" Lyon questioned, coming up behind him, "I'm sure Althea would allow you to join Lamia Scale if you wanted."

Damian rolled his eyes, "Uncle Lyon, you've been telling me to join Lamia Scale since I was four. I want to join Fairy Tail."

Lyon's eyes danced in amusement, "I suppose, if you are going to join another guild, Fairy Tail will do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gray growled.

"How is Althea?" Eve questioned, walking up beside them.

It wasn't a secret what the young man was doing. Everyone, even Damian, knew the youngest Trimen had still been a member of the counsel when Althea had been an active member of Fairy Tail. He had never met her. But if Hibiki came up and asked Damian, he would just be ignored. However, Damian had been polite to Eve since he had given him a clean pair of clothes, so Eve had the best chance at getting information.

"Fine," Damian answered, pretending the question wasn't odd with who it was coming from. "She kept trying to get up and Uncle Laxus yelled at her. His magic was crackling all over the room."

The members of Fairy Tail winced at the words. "Yikes. Althea's always been good at dealing with her brother, but I doubt she's up for it at the moment," Gray muttered. He seemed to think over Damian's words for a moment and his eyes narrowed. "What do you mean she was trying to get up?"

Damian rolled his eyes. "She said Polyusica was being overly cautious."

Lucy's eyes went wide as Gray snorted. "Right. She knows better than anyone that how stupid that statement was."

Damian shrugged, "Mom doesn't like being told what to do."

"Hmm," Lyon said wryly, moving forward to ruffle the boys hair, "must run in the family."

Damian pulled away, moving his hand over his hair protectively and Lucy began to giggle behind her hand. "How much trouble am I in?" Gray finally asked, frowning at the thought of what his closest friend was going to do to him.

The younger boy sent him a smirk that reminded everyone forcefully of the girl currently lying in the other room. "Oh, not too bad. She muttered something about some pictures and a paintbrush."

Gray's pale complexion darkened significantly at the words. "Great." He stared at Damian a moment, blinking, before turning to Lyon, "Did you notice if anything at the apartment survived? I didn't think about it at the time, but the scrapbooks and pictures-"

"I was not focused on the possessions when I searched," Lyon told him, ice in his voice. "However, I believe we should see if there is anything salvageable."

Damian bit his lip, thinking of the pictures around the small apartment. For years, the pictures were the only things he had of the family he had lost. Even though they were all here with him now, he felt like he had lost something. If any of it could be saved, he wanted it. "Can I go too?"

Gray and Lyon exchanged a look while Loke smiled gently at the boy. "You have to be prepared in case we don't find anything. We don't know how big of a hit the building took and even if something survived, after the last few days of being out someone could have picked it up or gotten rid of it."

Damian swallowed hard at the words, his hand moving up to twine in his hair. "I still want to go. I want to help."

Gray nodded slowly as Loke and Lyon stood. "We can help as well," Eve said brightly, smiling at the boy. "Hibiki's calculations could come in handy when figuring where things fell."

Damian hesitated for only a moment before slowly nodding. "Okay," he looked toward the other members of Fairy Tail, "would you like to come, also?"

"Sure," Lucy said brightly, grabbing onto Natsu's arm and walking toward the door, "we can be of some use this way."

"I want to go help Erza!" Natsu protested loudly.

"Erza doesn't want your help!" Lucy snapped back.

As the two began to bicker, Eve returned with the other two Blue Pegasus members in tow. The three were the only ones left from their guild, Eve and Ren staying to give Hibiki what support they could. Chelia and Shelly had also stayed from Lamia Scale, though they were currently with Wendy in the city. "Okay, you two," Lyon said in exasperation, "enough fighting. Let's get going."

Lyon and Gray led the way, Loke walking slightly behind them with Damian, followed by the Trimen, and a still bickering Lucy and Natsu falling behind. Damian kept his eyes forward, making sure he didn't look toward his father. He didn't know what to say. He was actually kind of embarrassed about his behavior the night his mom got hurt. He hadn't mean to imply that he didn't want to meet his dad – he had always planned to do so, one day – but he had thought he would have his mom beside him when he was ready. Instead, he had been shoved into a position where telling him was the only option and his mom was on the edge of death. He hadn't been ready to deal with the man. He still wasn't ready.

He didn't know if it made it better or worse that his dad seemed to want to know him. He had had nightmares where he finally went to meet his father only to be told to go away and never return. It was one of the reasons he had put it off. He thought that maybe after he joined Fairy Tail he would be able to deal with it, that even if his dad didn't want him, others would.

But now – now his dad wanted to get to know him and Damian didn't know how to deal with that.

So he was avoiding the man as much as possible. He didn't want to hurt him, really, he didn't, but he wasn't sure what to do. He didn't know how to talk to him. Didn't know what he was supposed to say. What if his dad got bored with him, the same way he got bored with his mom? What about his mom? Would it hurt her if he got to know his dad and actually liked him? His mom always said that it was his decision and she would love him no matter what, but he didn't want to hurt her. He knew his mom still loved his dad, it was obvious in the way she talked about him, and he didn't want to force her to be around the man more that she had to be.

"You know, when my key was with Karen, I got to know Hibiki pretty well," Loke said quietly from beside him, making Damian blink at the random words.

"Okay?"

"When I found out that he and Karen were…together, I was really surprised," Loke continued. "He and your mom always worked so well together. Whenever we ran into Althea on missions, she would instantly fall in with Hibiki and the two of them would have things under control in minutes." He let out a small laugh, "It used to make Karen so mad. So, I was shocked when I found out he and your mom and broken up."

Damian glanced at his uncle, unsure of where this story was going. He was already uncomfortable enough, he didn't need any more reasons to be upset with his father.

"But then I remembered that it was Karen," Loke said bitterly, "and Karen always got what she wanted. No matter who she had to step on to get it."

Damian nodded slowly at the words. He had been told of his uncle's previous master. "He made his own choice."

"So did your mom," Loke said, stopping suddenly. The Trimen stopped also, looking at the two in confusion. "Go on ahead, we will catch up in a minute."

Eve and Ren exchanged a confused look before continuing to walk. Hibiki didn't move, his eyes flickering between Damian and Loke. "Everything okay?"

"Just need to talk to Damian for a minute," Loke said cheerfully, wrapping his arm around the younger boys shoulders. "We'll catch up."

Hibiki frowned slightly but turned around and slowly made his way to the others, glancing over his shoulder every few steps. When he finally turned the corner, Loke knelt in front of Damian and stared into the boys eyes. "Listen Damian, I'm not saying what your mom did was the wrong decision. It was the decision she felt was best at the time. But Hibiki didn't get a choice when it came to you. If your mom had decided to tell him she was pregnant, things could look very different right now. I can't imagine what you are feeling – but do you really think it's right to be upset with a man about a choice that he didn't get to make?"

Eyes wide, Damian began to shake his head. "No – no, Uncle Loke! I'm not upset that he didn't…that he wasn't with me. I mean, I don't like what he did to mom. I'm just – what if he doesn't like me? Or if he does like me and he wants to take me from mom? Or even if he wants to spend more time with me and mom has to be around him all the time? I don't want to hurt her like that."

Loke blinked, startled at the boys words. Well, that wasn't where he thought this was going. Slowly, he reached forward and wrapped the boy in a hug. Damian fell against his chest, holding on to his shirt tightly. "Damian, your mom just wants you to be happy. And if being around your dad makes you happy, she will be too. As for Hibiki not liking you, I really don't think you have to worry about that."

Damian pulled away, his eyes opening and closing frantically to keep himself from crying. "You think so?"

"I do," Loke replied gently.

"Oi! What are you doing?! I thought we were going to Althea's place?"

Natsu and Lucy had finally caught up, Lucy breathing heavily. They had obviously been running around trying to find them. "Just needed to talk to Damian for a minute," Loke said brightly, standing back up and grinning at Lucy. "And I needed to make sure you didn't get too lost. Okay, princess?"

Damian rolled his eyes as Natsu let out a growl. He turned around and began to make the way back to his apartment – or his old apartment. The three began to follow him with Loke and Natsu now arguing and Lucy making comments under her breath.

"Everything okay?" Gray asked as they finally joined the others in front of Damian's apartment. The boy didn't respond, too busy staring in dismay at the rubble around him. Lyon was already digging through a pile of the debris, Hibiki with his archive open, Eve standing beside him pointing to something toward the right, and Ren standing in what was once the front walkway. "They lived on the second floor, first door on the right, if that helps," Gray said to Hibiki, placing his hand on Damian's shoulder.

Hibiki nodded, his eyes glancing around what once was his sons home. Even if something was there, he wasn't sure it was something they would be able to save.

Within an hour, it was obvious the search was futile. "Sorry, Damian," Gray said in dismay. "Looks like everything has already been gone through."

Damian bit his lip, not willing to let them see how much the news affected him. "We should go back. Mom might be awake."

"Damian! Oh, Damian, honey! Are you okay?" A voice yelled, making Damian turn on the spot with wide eyes. An old woman was struggle down the street towards them, a bag over one shoulder. Damian ran forward and instantly pulled the woman into a hug.

"Granny! I was worried that you were in the building when –"

"Oh, don't be fooled, child. I might be old, but I'm still smart enough to get myself out of a destroyed city," the woman said, pulling away from the boy and looking over his shoulder, "Now, where is your mom-"

She broke off as her eyes landed on Hibiki. She stared at him for a moment before looking at Damian. Then she turned back to the now fidgeting archive mage. "Well, no doubt who you are," she looked around and spotted Lyon, "where is Althea?"

"She got hurt in the battle, ma'am," Lyon said respectfully, moving forward and kissing the woman on the cheek. "She is currently resting and expected to make a full recovery. This is Gray and Loke," the two smiled at her as her own smile widened at the names, "as well as the Trimen. Natsu and Lucy are both members of Fairy Tail."

"I came back as soon as they opened the borders," the old woman told Lyon, shaking her head, "people were already taking what they could. It was madness! I came straight here and took what I could find. I knew your mom would want it one day," she told Damian, taking the bag off of her shoulder and handing it to him. Damian opened the back, his eyes widening, before he threw himself at the woman again.

"Thank you!"

"Don't go thanking me, honey," the woman replied, chuckling. "It was the least I could do with as much help as you and your mamma have been to me since I moved here. I'm just glad you are okay."

"What are you going to do now, ma'am?" Lyon asked, looking concerned for the older woman.

"My granddaughter lives a town over. She told me to come stay with her," the woman said, "I was just waiting until I found Althea and Damian. Had to make sure they were okay."

"I'm sorry I didn't try to find you-"

"Hush, child. You need to take care of that mother of yours. That girl is always getting herself into trouble," she said, patting Damian on the back. "It looks like you and your mom have plenty of people to help you now. That makes me happy that you two have people watching out for you."

Damian smiled at the woman and didn't miss the way her eyes flashed over to his father. "Now, I have a train to catch. I was hoping I would see you today. You and your mom can visit at any time and you better contact me, you hear?"

"Yes, Granny."

"Good." The woman gave Damian one last hug, patted Lyon on the shoulder, and turned back down toward the train station.

"Who was that?" Gray asked in amazement, staring after the woman.

"She moved in across the hall from Althea a few years ago. Damian stayed with her whenever Althea traveled or went to work," Lyon responded, looking curiously at the bag. "What do you have there?"

Damian just smiled, hugging the bag to his chest. "I'll show you when we get back to the Inn. All of you," he said, looking at his father for the first time in days. Hibiki blinked in surprise before smiling softly.

"Then I guess we better go."

They all stared in amazement at the pictures spread out around them. Althea was still sleeping, so Laxus and Makarov had joined them at a table. Gray and Loke were laughing as they flipped through some of the older pictures of Damian, looking at the things they had missed. Hibiki had commandeered the baby book while the other Trimen looked over his shoulders. Lucy and Natsu were giggling over a picture of Loke and Gray holding a two year old Damian while Laxus and Makarov were flipping through the pictures Althea had taken before Damian was born documenting her life and that of her unborn child.

"What happened here?" Gray asked, showing a picture of a five year old Damian smiling brightly and a scowling Lyon covered in flour.

Lyon rolled his eyes, "I had come to visit and agreed to watch Damian as Althea ran to the store. Somehow, the little monster got a hold of the flour and managed to disperse it over the entire kitchen and everything in it. Including me."

Gray's lips twitched at the words but he didn't make a comment.

"You two were around a lot when he was young," Hibiki finally muttered, coming to the end of the baby book.

Gray nodded, "She is my best friend. I wanted to be there – and she and Loke hit it off instantly. Of course, now I know they already knew each other. But back then, I was just glad they got along so he agreed to go with me to visit."

"I went less after Lucy acquired my key," Loke pointed out. "I went once with Gray before the Island."

"Sorry!" Lucy said promptly, blushing, "If I had known, I would have let you visit!"

Loke laughed, "Don't worry, princess. I'll be able to see them more now."

Gray couldn't help but notice the scowl that briefly crossed Hibiki's face at the words. Lyon seemed to also notice as he said, "Yes, I'm sure we will all be able to see them often."

"I wonder if mom will be able to find an apartment," Damian said, obviously thinking out loud. "They said it could take her awhile to be able to move around a lot. She'll get tired easily."

"You can stay with me," two voices said simultaneously.

Every head turned to the two voices, only to see Laxus and Gray glaring at one another. "He's my nephew."

"My godson."

"She's my sister."

"My best friend."

"Sister trumps best friend."

"Since when?!"

"They are my blood!"

"You never cared before!"

"Why you-"

"Enough!" Every person in the room froze as the voice cut into the converstation. Slowly, they all turned to face the doorway.

Althea stood there, leaning against the wall with one hand pressed over her stomach. Her hair was thrown up into a messy ponytail and her complexion was scarily pale. "I already asked Mira to look for a small house or apartment. We won't need to stay with anyone." Althea slowly pulled herself away from the wall and let her eyes drift over the converged mages until they finally fell on the one pair she wanted to see and avoid. "Hi."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Wow! One reason I hadn't written anything new in this story was because I honestly thought no one was interested - but in one night you guys doubled the reviews I had for the last three chapters! Thank you so, so much! So, here is a new chapter (though shorter than the others) to reward you! Please let me know what you think!

Hibiki didn't know what to say. His chest felt tight and his words were lodged in his throat as he watched Gray jump from his seat and run toward his best friend, wrapping his arm around her waist and helping her move toward the table.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Laxus snapped, also moving to his feet and making room for his younger sister.

Althea let an eyebrow raise as she stared at her brother. "Figured I should see what all the laughter was about."

"Porly-"

"Said I could get up as long as I didn't overdue it," Althea cut him off quickly, sinking onto the bench with help from Gray. Her eyes strayed over the pictures scattered around the table, finally coming to land on the baby book Hibiki still had clutched in his hand. "I see you went back to the house."

"Granny was there!" Damian said, eyes shining brightly as he moved down the bench to press against his mothers side. Hibiki felt a frown overtake his face as Althea winced slightly before gently wrapping her own arm around her – their – son. "She grabbed the pictures before they got taken! She said she's going to live with her granddaughter and we are supposed to visit her!"

Althea let out a tired chuckle, "I'm sure she did. Well, I'm glad she got to them before they were ruined."

Damian nodded, leaning his head against her shoulder. Althea looked down at him fondly, placing a kiss atop his head, before turning her attention to the others at the table. "Alright, I'd rather just get this over with now. Go ahead."

Hibiki's eyes narrowed and his hand tightened around the book. If she thought he was going to have this discussion around her family, friends, and Damian, she was completely mistaken.

"I saw you all in the games!" Damian said loudly, cutting into the silence that overtook the room. He seemed to be much more comfortable now that his mother was beside him. "I had never gone before! It was really cool!" He turned toward Natsu, eyes shining and Hibiki felt something stab in his chest. He moved his hand up in confusion, pressing it against his heart. That was odd. "The fight with the twin dragons! It was so – I mean, how? It was just – and the final battle! Uncle Laxus against Jira! It was so – all of you were just…"

Althea looked down at Damian in surprise and Hibiki noticed the same shocked look on Lyons face. Natsu was grinning broadly, as was Lucy, while Gray and Loke both stared at the boy in amusement. Laxus was blinking like he wasn't sure what to say. A small chuckle made Hibiki's eyes snap to the woman that had barely left his thoughts in the past ten years. She was biting her lip and looking down, her shoulders shaking slightly.

He wasn't the only one that noticed. "Mo-om!" Damian whined.

That did it. Althea began to laugh loudly, holding her side and leaning her head against the table. She was obviously in pain but it didn't seem to bother her as she continued. Lyon began to chuckle quickly after, making the rest of them look on in confusing or questioning smiles. "Sorry," Althea said, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's just – well, Damian certainly didn't get his intelligence from me. It's been awhile since I've heard him stumbling over his words."

Damian's cheeks turned a bright red as he groaned and buried his face in his hands. Hibiki looked at his son in amusement, thinking back to the words Althea had just muttered. He didn't get his intelligence from me. Damian had mentioned being slightly telepathic a few days ago, though Hibiki was just now contemplating the words. The boy had been training with Gray and Lyon and using mind magic against them – a form of magic that usually calls for above average intelligence, much like his archive, though more powerful in a battle sense. Maybe that was a way he could get to know him, by helping him with his telepathy.

"You seem to have raised a charming young man," Master Markarov stated, smiling gently at the still blushing boy. Althea smiled at her grandfather, running her hand through Damian's dark blond hair – hair that looked startlingly similar to his own. Actually, the younger blond was an almost exact replica of Hibiki – the nose was shaped a bit differently and his dark gray eyes were obviously a Dreyar trait, being shared by both Althea and Laxus.

Through the book he held, he had been able to see his son grow. He saw a picture that had obviously been taken shortly after his birth, of Althea holding him in a bed, looking tired and slightly irritated. He saw birthdays, visits from Gray, Loke, and later on Lyon. Saw various moments that the two had documented throughout Damain's life.

But he hadn't actually seen it. He didn't know what his son's first words had been or his favorite color. He didn't know what foods he liked or what he didn't. Didn't know if he was allergic to something or if he had any medical conditions to be aware of. The only thing he knew was that the woman he had been in love with, the woman he had hurt, had been pregnant with his child and never told him. Logically, he knew why she hadn't. He also knew he couldn't know what seventeen year old him would have done if she had told him about a baby. All he knew was right at this moment he couldn't help but resent the closeness the two had and the fact that other people knew more about his son than he did.

"So you spoke to Mira?" Gray asked, cutting of Hibiki's train of thought.

"Well…I spoke. She cried. Then she agreed to look for a place for us. Hopefully she'll find something quickly," Althea shrugged, clearly not overly concerned.

"What about Jewels? Do you have enough?" Makarov questioned gently.

"I have some saved up," Althea responded, "and if I have too, I can dip into the money I put aside for Damian."

Master Markarov looked surprised at her words, "You were able to find employment that paid enough to not only for living expenses but gave you enough to keep a savings for Damian?"

Althea didn't meet his eyes, "Uh, not exactly."

Hibiki frowned at the answer. Yet another thing that he could have been helping with if he had known. He had plenty of jewels and he made sure to take assignments that paid enough for all of the Trimen to live comfortably. Just what type of job had Althea been doing? And where did the extra jewels come from?

"I'm guessing those are from me," Gray said, eyes narrowed as he stared at the fidgeting girl. "Ali, I sent you those so you could take care of Damian and not have to work,"

"I as well," Lyon cut in.

Gray turned to the older ice mage instantly. "You were sending her jewels?"

Lyon met his eyes, "I concluded that you would have been helping out as much as you could before you disappeared. I continued to do so in your steed. I was not aware they were not being used."

Hibiki clenched his jaw. Right. So the two cold bastards had been helping to support his son while he was playing host. How nice.

"Thank you," Gray said quietly, obviously surprised at the Lamia Scale mages words. He turned back toward Althea who was staring at him innocently.

"I used some of them when needed," she finally said, looking exasperated. "I told the two of you not to send me anything. I decided to put them away from Damian when he got older."

Gray sighed deeply as Lyon stared at her impassively. "At least you used them when you needed to. And Damian will get use out of them."

Damian wouldn't need to get use out of them if-

Hibiki cut the thought off. He had to keep his emotions out of this and think about it logically. So the two had helped out. Good. At least Althea and Damian had some sort of support system in case something went wrong. However, he did not like the thought in the slightest. He knew it was because he was…jealous…of the other mages. For now, he just needed to be thankful they had been looking out for them.

"So," Laxus said gruffly, staring hard at his sister, "you going to tell us why you ran away? Because the answer we got from the kid ain't cutting it."

Althea met her brothers' eyes, neither looking willing to back down. Hibiki shifted uneasily. He remembered the stories Althea used to tell him about the arguments she and her brother would get in. Althea was most likely too weak to use her magic but that didn't mean she wouldn't try. If the two of them started the best thing to do would be to make a quick exit. He wondered if he could get to Damian quick enough to get the boy out of harms way.

"Because I was fifteen years old, pregnant, and terrified of disappointing everyone around me. Not to mention I wasn't exactly thinking clearly at the time," she shrugged her shoulders, glancing briefly in Hibiki's direction. "I panicked and did what I thought was best. Gray tried to talk me out of it but I didn't listen. I said I would go back. That I would talk to all of you – but as time went by it got harder and harder to do so. So I kept making excuses. And then it was too late."

Laxus crossed his arms over his chest, apparently satisfied with the answer. Hibiki, however, wasn't. "Not for all of us."

Althea flinched at the sound of his voice. Great. That made him feel even better. Slowly, she turned her head toward him. They stared at each other. Hibiki couldn't tell what she was thinking. Her eyes were closed off and her face expressionless, a look that had never been given to him before. Slowly her head moved up and down, nodding in agreement to his words. "True. I could have told you. I should have told you. All I can say is that by the time I finally came to that conclusion, years had passed and I wasn't sure what to do."

It wasn't a complete answer. Hell, it wasn't even an apology. But, for the moment, he would take it.

Until they were able to talk alone, anyway.


End file.
